A train has derailed in north-western Spain, killing at least 77 people and injuring more than 100, officials in the Galicia region have said. All eight carriages of the train, which was travelling from Madrid to Ferrol, came off the tracks near the city of Santiago de Compostela. Analysts say it is the worst rail accident in Spain in four decades.

‘Accident’

Rescue workers have so far recovered 73 bodies from the accident site, while four more people died in hospital, a spokeswoman for Galicia’s supreme court said on Thursday. Judges are responsible for registering deaths in Spain. Government officials said they believed the crash was an accident, but that no statement would be made regarding the cause without a proper investigation.

One witness, Ricardo Montesco, described how the train carriages “piled on top of one another” after the train hit a curve, speaking to Spanish Cadena Ser radio station. Spanish El Pais newspaper cited sources close to the investigation as saying the train was travelling at over twice the speed limit on a sharp curve.

‘Cancelled’

The derailment happened on the eve of Santiago de Compostela’s main festival where thousands of Christian pilgrims were expected to flock to the city in honour of Saint James. However, the city’s tourism board said all festivities planned for Thursday have been cancelled.

Railway firm Renfe said the train was carrying at least 218 passengers, and came off the tracks on a bend about 3km (two miles) from Santiago de Compostela station. It was on the express route between Madrid and the ship-building city of Ferrol on the Galician coast.

What do you think caused the Spanish train’s derailment? Feel free to share your speculations with us!

Do you know why knives were banned on planes? It is because knives were the cause of deaths and also gave way to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And now, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is moving to allow passengers to carry small knives on their flights soon. Now this new rule is purely stupefying.

‘Hijacking procedures’

According to the TSA, hijacking procedures are not the same anymore and that there is lesser probability of knife-carrying terrorists to enter the cockpit. Another argument is that sharp objects can no longer cause airplanes to go down. I repeat — airplanes, not humans.

Long story short, if a terrorists takes a passenger as hostage, the cabin crew will have to leave you alone. They cannot help you. Is that right?

‘Shorter checkpoints’

Let’s take a few moments to analyze this new TSA rule. Bottled water and shampoo aren’t allowed on board. But knives are? That’s tantamount to declaring that the presence of these liquids pose a greater threat than the presence of a small but sharp object that can be used as a deadly weapon. I don’t know about the general public, but I think this is simply outrageous.

There is a specific reason why airport screening takes up a considerable amount of your check-in time and why the lines are all clogged up during this process. Read: SAFETY. There you go. We don’t need to compromise safety for shorter checkpoints. Yes, allowing passengers to carry knives on the plane will make the screeners’ jobs easier, lessen the chance of having irate passengers, and ultimately cut your check-in time at the airport. But when it comes to looking at the lesser evil (or the greater good, for that matter), safety should be considered above all.

So, do you want the TSA to allow passengers to carry knives on aircrafts? Share your own opinion regarding this controversial rule.